High Court Won’t Uphold College Affirmative Action: Noah Feldman

A revolution in university admissions appears to be at hand.

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases on affirmative action in higher education, raising the likelihood that it will strike down the practice in the near future. The only thing surprising about this development is the timing, in the same Supreme Court term that already promises blockbuster conservative judgments on abortion and guns.

The legality of race-based preferences in college admissions has been hanging by a thread for decades: Certainly since 2003, when Justice Sandra Day O’Connor provided the swing vote in favor, and arguably since 1978, when ...